


Rewrite The Stars

by ohworm (owolivia)



Series: TWDG OTP Challenge [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Holding Hands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:20:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22555486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owolivia/pseuds/ohworm
Summary: One more pebble later, she hears the turn of a handle and the window opens. Even in the darkness, she can see Gabe's tired eyes squinting at her, stifling a yawn. "Clem?""Hi," she smiles sheepishly, "Good morning.""Right- good morning to you too, bat. What are you doing awake at this time?"Her foot twists and digs a hole into the dirt beneath her as she tries to continue breathing casually. "Woke up. Wanna count the stars with me?"
Relationships: Clementine/Gabriel García
Series: TWDG OTP Challenge [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1622893
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Rewrite The Stars

The night is young, the countless number of stars stretches across the sky and Clementine rolls over in bed, pillow stained with tears as she curls in on herself and closes her eyes tight, clutching her hat to her chest. A single lone sob sounds throughout the room as she sniffles and pulls her knees up, pulling her covers tighter around herself.

The soft material does its best and she really appreciates having it in times like these, but nothing could replace the feeling of actually being embraced and held and feeling protected and safe, so she kicks it off of herself and just lays there for a moment, chest rapidly moving up and down. She breathes in and out and attempts to calm her racing heart after the devilish dream she just went through.

A few seconds pass and, seeing how it's not getting any better, Clementine pushes herself up with trembling hands and swings her legs over the side, sighing quietly when her feet hit the cold floor. It takes a second for her to get to AJ's tiny room and check if he's having better luck than her. 

Fortunately, the boy is deep in his imagination, eyes closed and chest heaving up and down as he takes slow and steady breaths, unlike Clementine. Her heart calms for the moment as she reassures herself that he's fine, he's right there, breathing and moving and alive. 

She retreats from the door and moves swiftly through the dark hall to the exit, slipping into her shoes and pulling her still shaky arms through the soft sleeves of her jacket. The handle is incredibly cold but it grounds her, in a weird way. She gently opens the door and slips out into the hallway, closing it just as gently behind her. 

Her shoes make subtle tapping noises against the stairs as she descends, squeaking if she was to move too fast, her hand sliding over the smooth wooden railing, wary of splinters and lifting her hand if she feels the wood getting rough. She arrives on the ground floor soon enough and doesn't waste any time, her hands flying forward to push open the door of the large apartment building. 

She's careful to avoid the patrol and sticks to the shadows, walking swiftly but carefully, breathing in the cold air. A chill runs down her spine and she pulls the jacket tighter around herself, shivering. 

Soon enough she's at a window of an apartment, looking up at it, squinting. She looks down at her hands and curses them out in her head, frustrated at their constant shaking. She quickly bends down and picks up a small pebble, chucking it at the window. 

It makes a subtle tap as it hits the glass. Clementine bends down and throws another. This one is louder. 

One more pebble later, she hears the turn of a handle and the window opens. Even in the darkness, she can see Gabe's tired eyes squinting at her, stifling a yawn. "Clem?" 

"Hi," she smiles sheepishly, "Good morning."

Gabe blinks once. Twice. He glances at the clock on his nightstand and snorts. "Right- good morning to you too, bat. What are you doing awake at this time?"

Her foot twists and digs a hole into the dirt beneath her as she tries to continue breathing casually. "Woke up. Wanna count the stars with me?"

"Count the-" he takes a deep breath, "At 3? In the morning?" His tone is stern and scolding but she hears the amusement behind it and grins.

"Please?" She looks up at him with the biggest pleading eyes and stands on her tippy toes. "They're the prettiest at this time." And, after a moment of silence, she adds, "It'd make me very happy, too." 

His expression morphs into one of resignation and she feels a spark of uncertainty hit her. "Well- you don't have to-"

"No!" Even in the dark he looks right at her and gives her a smile. "Just give me a minute." 

The window closes and she's once again left with the subtle sound of the wind and her thoughts. Her feet carry her to the front door and she leans against the wall next to it, closing her eyes and breathing in the cold air again. 

Before her thoughts can fully swallow her whole, the door squeaks open and Gabe tiptoes outside, looking around with wide eyes. He slowly pushes the door and is very careful with closing it; it always made a very loud sound when it closed.

When their eyes meet, they both share a smile; Gabe's shy and curious and Clem's nervous and eager. She walks down the steps and starts a new journey to one of the lower buildings, gesturing for Gabe to follow. He joins her in her fast pace and they're soon swiftly moving through the Richmond alleys and numerous halls, getting an adrenaline rush every time they narrowly avoid a patrol party. 

As they walk down a familiar path, Gabe barely stifles a yawn and rubs at his eyes, trying to fully wake up. Clementine notices he slowed down but her eagerness overtakes her. Before she can think or stop herself, she reaches out and wraps her hand around his, giving him a stern smile before pulling him forward at her pace. Gabe doesn't say anything, trying to keep up with her pulling and staring at their joined hands.

The two hurry through the empty city and soon enough, Clementine slows down near a seemingly completely abandoned building and pushes the door open gently, wincing at the creaking of the floor. Gabe follows, and as the two step inside, they notice a large staircase. "That's it!" Clementine exclaims and rushes forward, once again tugging Gabe along. "Come on, up you go, sleepyhead."

"Don't patronize me," Gabe scoffs, but there's a smile on his face. "I need my beauty sleep, okay?"

"Like hell you do."

Gabe makes sure to have her attention and rolls his eyes overly dramatically, sending them both into giggles. He takes a step forward, only to be held back by Clemen- 

Oh. They're still holding hands.

The two look at their joined hands at the same time, tension in the air thickening as Gabe takes the wheel this time and tugs her forward just slightly. "Come on. Up." She blinks. Gabe grins. "And you call me the sleepyhead."

"You sleep in a lot more than me," she mutters as she finally follows up the stairs, hand still clutching Gabe's. Their ascend is fast and soon they're facing a large door that Clementine doesn't hesitate to push open. 

The two walk through and find themselves on the roof of the building, their eyes lit up by the shining moon as it finally finds its way to them, no longer having to search for them in between the tall buildings of Richmond streets.

Clementine pulls Gabe close to the edge of it and gently presses her elbow against his, nudging him to look up. Her eyes crinkle and her face lights up with a smile when he watches the thousands of stars in the dark sky, no longer hidden by city lights. They spend a good moment like this; just standing, watching the stars, fingers slowly intertwining. 

"Here," Clementine almost whispers, her voice caught in her throat, afraid of ruining the peaceful atmosphere. "Let's sit down." 

They let go of each other's hand to get as comfortable as possible on the hard cement of the roof, immediately feeling cold and lonely. As they settle down and stop moving, their hands find each other again, eager for the warmth. 

"Do you know any constellations?" She asks, voice still shaky and quiet. Her mind buzzes with images of old astrology textbooks her father used to buy, showing her all the stars and the way they moved. His face is unrecognizable, his features blurry and smudged, voice generic and made up by her mind. Clementine's breath hitches. 

Gabe seems to think of a while, brows furrowed. "No, I don't think so. Do you?"

"Nope," her teacher shows up in her mind, nothing but a blurry figure at the front of a board. "Don't remember any."

"Astrology used to be so boring to me back then, but after hearing Mari rant about it for days without end," he takes a deep breath at the mention of his sister, "It pulls you in whether you want to or not."

"That's astrology, not astronomy," she points out, amusement clear in her voice. "I used to like stuff like astronomy when I was a kid. My dad used to buy a ton of books on this stuff." 

"Did your dad like astronomy?" 

"Kinda," she hesitates, "I guess. He only really got into it because I liked it. He was like that." 

"He sounds great," he replies, words slow and carefully said. He glances at her for a second and looks away abruptly, heart speeding up. Her eyes reflected the stars just a bit too perfectly.

Clementine doesn't reply, and he worries he stepped onto wrong territory. He did it less now, knowing what to avoid and move away from, but there were always moments where Clementine would go quiet and close the world out, dive into her mind and stay there until she dared to come back to reality. 

"Yeah," her voice interrupts his thoughts, "He was. I wish he was here sometimes." 

Gabe watches her for a minute before he carefully lets go of her hand and brings it up to rest on her shoulder instead, knowing it wouldn't matter much right now, but it'd be comforting once she came back. 

A few minutes pass as the two sit in silence, watching the way the bright stars moved across the sky gracefully, not one of them out of sync or dull. Clementine turns her head and gives him a tiny smile. He returns it almost immediately. 

"Penny for your thoughts?"

In the blink of an eye she's staring at the stars again, and their hands are once again joined together on the cold ground, keeping them connected despite their short distance between each other. "I was just... thinking. About stuff. From the past." 

He shuffles closer, heart speeding up when their shoulders touched. "Do you want to talk about it?" 

He expects the same answer as always; no, not really. That was her usual reaction, and that was fine. She had a right to privacy, but he wanted her to know he was there to listen, no matter what. He wouldn't judge her for her past, that was a long time ago and whatever happened that she was so upset about, it was behind her. 

Yet this time, instead of refusing, Clementine nods and lays her head on his shoulder. "Can I?"

"Of-" he has to take a second to remember how to breathe, "Of course, Clem. Whenever you want." 

The stars are forgotten to him now. He's focused on many other things; Clementine's warmth that keeps him from freezing, her hair tickling his neck, and her hand that squeezes tightly around his. He almost doesn't hear her when she speaks.

"The people... the people I usually meet," her start is carefully said and quiet, "They don't... they're usually dead by now." He can feel her shift and prays to whatever the fuck is up there that his blood didn't decide to redden his face as she looks at him. He looks back at her and finds himself staring into her eyes that are open and scanning his own, admiration, care and determination floating around her irises. "But you're not."

He swallows. "Yeah, I- I sure hope I'm not."

She goes back to resting her head on his shoulder - or, well, in the crook of his neck, now - and tries to form the rest of her thoughts. "I don't know what I'd do." 

"If what?"

"You died." 

He can't help but look at her again. His eyes widen as something wets his jacket and, to his surprise, it's her tears. "Clem- are you okay?" 

"Yeah, I just-" she sniffles and lifts herself off the ground and paces the roof, Gabe standing up and following, worry overtaking him. "Just got emotional, is all." 

"That's okay- being emotional is okay, Clem. Hey, come here, you're okay," she abruptly turns to him, wiping the last of her tears away with her sleeve. "You're okay, I'm okay, everything is fine." His hands find comfort on her shoulders for the time being, but before he knows it he's pulling her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her. 

She returns the gesture and hides her face in the crook of his neck again, closing her eyes and trying to calm down. His hands rub comforting circles into her back and she nods frantically. "Yeah, everything-" she lifts her head, "Everything is okay." 

They release the embrace, staying close to each other. Clementine is looking up at him like he's her sun, and with how much admiration and raw emotion her eyes hold, it'd be rude to doubt her. Something flashes in her eyes and he expects her to move away and go quiet again, shut the world out and ignore everything until she's calm again, but she takes him off guard once more. Her eyes glance down so fast he worries he might have imagined it. 

"Can I?" 

And, with as much honesty as he can give, he nods his head and stutters out a 'yes'. He didn't exactly know what he agreed to...

...but a kiss was the last thing he expected. It took him a second to figure out what was going on. His senses come back to him eventually and his eyes close, his hand coming up to cup Clementine's cheek in his hand, his mind a maze with no exit.

It's not long before they're seperated again, wide eyes meeting frantically, the realization hitting them both at the same time.

The last thing Gabe expects from her is guilt. "Fuck- I'm sorry! I shouldn't have-"

"Clem-"

"Oh God, I'm an awful person, I'm-"

"Clementine!" He grabs her hand and smiles at her, trying to ignore the rapid beating of his heart. "It's okay. Don't apologize. I-"

"Hated it."

"Liked it," he narrows his eyes, "Don't assume. It makes an-"

"Ass out of 'u' and 'me'," she jumps in, forcing a nervous smile. It doesn't quite reach her eyes. 

"Exactly." 

They stay like that for a longer time, just the two of them on the roof, enjoying the other's presence. They go back to the edge and watch the stars again, closer this time, leaning against each other. 

The first hint of blue and pink light up the horizon and Gabe squints at the sky, glancing at Clem. "Maybe we should go back?"

"No," she squeezes his arm, shifting closer. "Please," her voice comes out trembling, "Stay with me?"

And who is he to say no?


End file.
